Oakland Fire Protection District Former Trustee Sentencing Delayed Again –

Coles Co., Ill. (ECWd) –

The Oakland Fire Protection District was the subject of massive theft by its own trustees several years ago.  We broke the first story on it back in October of 2022, as found in this article.  The criminal investigation resulted in 18 felony charges between Kyley Willison and his father, Jerry Willison, who were both trustees, along with the wife of Kiley Willison, who was not charged. We covered those charges in this article.

Kiley Willison pleaded guilty to count 1 of the 11 charges he was facing.  Count 1 is a Class 1 felony, “Theft Control Intent > 100K-500K”.   The remaining 10 felony charges will be dismissed at his sentencing. Let that sink in.

The original sentencing was scheduled for December 11, 2024.  That date was pushed back to 02/14/2025. That date was pushed back to 3/28/25.  As if anyone is surprised by the delay in justice, that date was pushed back to 05/16/2025, as outlined in the Judici docket at this link.

Jerry Willison’s case has had more than a dozen status hearings scheduled since his failed attempt to have his charges dismissed on June 28, 2023. As it stands, there is no trial date set according to Judici as found at this link.

The old saying of “justice delayed is justice denied” appears to hold true.  One of the key particulars in this case is the amount of money that was stolen and the processes used to steal it.  That information has been withheld from all freedom of information act requests and will continue to be withheld until disclosed in the sentencing hearing. Because of that, the public still has no clue as to the magnitude of this theft by elected trustees in the small community of Oakland, Illinois.

The judge who continues to allow the rescheduling of the sentencing of Kyley Willison is Judge Bower.  Bower is the same judge handling Kiley Willison’s father’s case, Jerry Willison.